CH 98

Cong Shun was indeed an excellent officer. He investigated Old Tie for a few days, and the more he investigated, the more suspicious he became. In the end,  he brought some people to dig Old Tie’s grave in the middle of the night.

The coffin was empty. There was no body, only a few articles of clothing. This was a cenotaph.

From this, Cong Shun concluded  it was very likely to be Old Tie, who mixed with the other bandits.

Tang Tianyuan was still a little confused. Just what did this Old Tie go through? After cheating death, he turned into a thief; to turn around and rob the Household he had once worked for? How much hatred did he have against Official Sun?

Cong Shun also had trouble answering Tang Tianyuan's doubts. "My Lord, Old Tie was inarticulate and spoke few words. He never caused trouble, and never had any grudges with Official Sun. But he did work on the farm where the accident happened. He was later transferred to the main residence of the Sun Residence. According to the servants of the Sun Residence, Official Sun never beat or scolded him. Every time they crossed paths, Official Sun was always seen to be kind to him. When Old Tie was sick a few years ago, Official Sun specially ordered others not to let him do any heavy work."

"That's weird. What about his parents, wife, and children? Maybe his relatives were bullied by Sun's Residence."

Cong Shun shook his head. "His parents had already passed away. Because he was poor and not very good looking, Old Tie didn't marry nor have children. Old Tie was alone, with no attachments; not to mention relatives, he didn’t even have a close friend. He was the lowest-level handyman in the Sun Residence, and he was usually very low-key and didn't attract much attention."

Alone, but responsible. Tang Tianyuan pondered and asked again, "Then who spread the news of his death? Who buried him?"

"This, this humble one doesn't know. Because Lord had said to investigate in an inconspicuous manner, this humble one didn't go question Official Sun. Lord, would you like him to be summoned for questioning?"

"No," Tang Tianyuan waved his hand, "If this matter was really related to Official Sun, he wouldn't tell the truth. Tell me more about that Old Tie, what else did you find suspicious?"

"Yes," Cong Shun took out a bag from his sleeves, "Old Tie's living place is located in a very remote area, and his room is still empty. When I went to search, I dug this up under the tree behind his house. ." As he spoke, Cong Shun handed the small bag to Tang Tianyuan.

Tang Tianyuan opened it and saw that it was filled with banknotes. Counting it, the amount totaled to more than two hundred taels. There were also a few pieces of silver; about twenty or thirty taels worth.

Tang Tianyuan looked at the money thoughtfully. It was highly unlikely for a lower ranked servant to save so much money.

"My Lord, Old Tie's monthly money is only five copper coins." Cong Shun thought the same as Tang Tianyuan. For Old Tie to have so much money, he would need to save for a whole lifetime without spending a single coin. This was obviously impossible.

Tang Tianyuan connected these clues and slowly stated his hypothesis. "It is possible that Official Sun instructed Old Tie to do something. He used money to reward him, but also to block his mouth. But this Old Tie wasn’t reliable or Official Sun may have thought he wasn’t reliable, in short, Official Sun wanted to silence him. Perhaps something happened in the middle and Old Tie was able to escape. He later went to Phoenix Mountain to join the bandits, and finally waited for the opportunity to take revenge."

This guess was very reasonable, so Cong Shun asked, "Does Official Sun know that Old Tie was not dead yet?"

"He may not have known, however, didn't he finally decide to report this accident? It seems that he believed that Old Tie was dead. I had found it strange how even after so much food was robbed, Official Sun seemed to not be in a hurry. For him to delay a whole day before filing a report? He may have been hesitating, afraid that the past would be revealed. This also shows that whatever he made Old Tie do cannot be disclosed, or at least not by the officials."

Cong Shun was very curious, "What could it be?"

"What could it be..." There was too little evidence, so Tang Tianyuan couldn't say what it was. His eyes flashed, and he asked, "You said that Old Tie was sick, what kind of illness did he have?"

"He’s said to have the decline of the mind and body, lacking in qi. People with this sickness become weak, easily fatigued, and lethargic. That Old Tie was always dozing off, so Official Sun had said, 'Since he is sick, let him do less work. The Sun Residence do not bully their servants.’ So the stewards stopped caring about him, allowing Old Tie to sleep in, late into the afternoon."

"When was he diagnosed with this illness?"

"About three or four years ago."

A thought flashed in Tang Tianyuan's mind. "Three or four years ago, so shortly after the previous County Magistrate took office."

Cong Shun didn't expect that the magistrate would connect Old Tie with the former magistrate, so he was slightly taken aback. "Yes, it should be around then."

"Those with ‘decline of the mind and body, lacking in qi’ are usually born with poor physique, or have been seriously injured. Old Tie is used to doing rough work, and he has never been seriously injured– he has not been seriously injured, right?"

"He shouldn't be." Cong Shun still didn't understand what the magistrate wanted to express.

Tang Tianyuan nodded, "In other words, Old Tie shouldn’t have contracted this illness."

"But……"

Tang Tianyuan raised his hand to interrupt him. "Allow me to finish. Yes, this is what you found, but these are just what he did to others to see; it was to hide their true motive. Just imagine, if a person had to do something at night, it would cost him a lot of time and energy. For others not to notice this problem the next day, pretending to be sick would be the best way."

Cong Shun subconsciously followed his train of thought. "That's right."

Tang Tianyuan asked, "What is there to do late at night that would also take a lot of energy?"

Cong Shun thought of a particularly obscene answer, but definitely something the County Magistrate wanted to hear, so he opened his mouth and said, "What could it be?"